Every Kanye West ‘Yeezy’ sneaker ranked by resale price

10th February 2016

While Yeezus Christ is holed up in the bowels of Madison Square Garden fitting models in his Yeezy Season 3 creations, we thought it was high time to look back at the sacred sneakers His Flyness has already bestowed upon the peasantry. Here we present every general release sneaker Kanye West has helped design that bore the cross of being a ‘Yeezy’ (so forget the Bapestas, Louis Vs and Ye-worn prototypes for now), ranked in order of the average deadstock sale price as recorded by StockX. We’ve also chucked in the Flight Club rack price (size 9 price, or size 10 if 9 is unavailable), so you know what you could cop them for if you wanted a pair right now. Make sure your paper’s right, then start the countdown by clicking through the gallery above.

Adidas will probably file this duckboot under ‘Shit Kanye Liked But The World Didn’t’. Kanye will probably file this under ‘Shit That The World Was Too Dumb To Understand’. Nevertheless, while the colossal shelf price seemed to have worked in deterring resellers, it still sells for more than its retail (just) when someone does try to offload a pair. There were black, ‘Moonrock’, chocolate and ‘Peyote’ colourways of this model, and they’re all hovering in the same resale price ballpark. He’s apparently going even higher up the calfy with the 1050 in Yeezy Season 3!

Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma? American grammarians. Who gives a fuck about an Oxford Tan Yeezy? Millions of hypebeasts. Dropping in the pudding comedown period on December 29, it would have been easy for this release to get lost in the noise and only pickings for a select few who didn’t blow the bank on the presents under the Christmas tree. That’s not who it works in Kanye Universe-city though, the Tans still commanded a hefty resale price tag. However, be warned, this one is a volatile beast, it has slumped into triple digit territory several times and hit peaks of $1,750 twice a month apart – once the day before release and then again in late January. So the best course of action if you’ve got a pair is do as the Lord Yeezus Christ intended and wear them.

It was indubitably Yeezy season by November 2015, with a flurry of Ye-designed adi releases causing pandemonium in malls across the world. The Yeezy Boost 350 ‘Moonrock’, surely woven from woollen floss extracted by astronauts on clandestine expeditions to our natural satellite, wasn’t a huge leap aesthetically from the previous Low release but it still proved a hit, though not the most sought after model.

The perfect storm formed from the sneakerworld’s obsession with black shoes and Kanye West to ensure this all black rendition of the 350 Low simply could not fail. After the inexorable anarchy at stores, it’s been a massive heater at resale too, and has experienced a recent price surge with sales around the 2K mark to be expected. However, hoarders who planned to sell got a smack in the face with the news that there will be a restock of these suckers later this month. So if you don’t have a pair and want ’em, save those stacks and get your deck chair primed. Subtracting a zero off 2,000 would be nice, eh?

The first Yeezy Low to drop ever, the Turtledove Boost 350 landed in the sneakersphere just in time for summer stunting and sold out quicksmart. A favourite with the Hollywood Hills types on their coffee runs, these Yeezys were magazine fodder and have recently surged in value as they’ve become scarcer. Time for a restock, adi?

Rumoured to be in development for months following the release of the grey OG 750, the Pirate Black High was then claimed to be fake, then revealed as real – it was a rollercoaster ride for armchair fans of this Yeezy but they got their prize in the end. And if they didn’t, all they needed to secure it was a piggy bank filled with a paltry sum equivalent to a decade’s income of many workers in the developing world. Easy street, baby!

Ahhhh, the bundle of leather and rubber that started this whole phenomenon. Nike took a chance on Kanye by giving him a dollar for his dream and it paid off for the Swoosh big time, especially when they retailed at $250 at a time when basically no other sportswear shoe was asking that. Although most heads would agree the original is not the best in this case, the Yeezy 1 still commands a high resale price because of its status as a cultural artefact.

The first Yeezy we ever saw from Kanye’s partnership with adidas. Emerging from an acrimonious split with Nike, Kanye had to deliver big on his first adidas sneaker, and he did – if sales, hype and resale value are anything to go by. Design-wise it was a polarising behemoth of a sneaker, that seemed to leave the world of sports completely in favour of the runway (although Nick Young did wear them on court that one time he gave Kobe an assist), and it’s fair to say it had more vehement detractors then unabashed lovers. Experimentation was always going to be the bedrock of Kanye’s design work though, so he was always going to be criticised – if it was more regular looking he would be slighted for playing it safe.

The first iteration of the Air Yeezy 2 to arrive in stores, the iconoclastic design of the Air Yeezy 1 blazed the trail for this silhouette to appear more palatable quicker. Seeing the Yeezy 1 was like copping a cup of acid in the eyes, only the acid turned out to be more like Visine that cleared our bloodshots eyes and enabled us all to appreciate the quirks of its predecessor more. Go to a rap club where the floors are generally kept clean and you’ll probably still be able to spot a pair of ’em.

Sneakerheads have dubbed any Nike sneak clad in the colour combo of black and Solar Red as ‘Yeezy’ – we’ve seen a Foamposite, Air Force 1, Roshe Run and Air Max all get the treatment since this stunner arrived in stores. The original (and the best) is still chased much harder than any of the general release imposters, though.

Oh calamity, wasn’t this one the song that never ended?! Kanye declared war on Nike after and he was informed he wouldn’t be cutting a royalty deal with the Swoosh any time soon. Kanye was music and fashion’s Michael Jordan in his own mind, but not Mark Parker’s. The ‘Red October’ eventually released with a whimper online in February, as Nike just wanted to get the pairs out of their warehouse and wash their hands clean of Kanye. The delays didn’t temper the public’s lust for the shoe, though, it went absolutely ballistic at resale. I really can’t write any more about this shoe, so if you feel like schooling up on it, get the full run down HERE and HERE.